AWOL after failing Basic Training.

[puzzledsister]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

I just found out that my brother is home from the Army today. Unfortunately, he left with out authorization (AWOL).

My brother was doing basic training for SF at Ft. Benning and knew from the get go..he couldn't hang. Prior to enlisting, my brother was about 70 lbs over-weight. He is 23 yrs old and basically ate and played X-Box all day.

A few months ago he decided to start running and dropping weight. In the two months before visiting the recruiter, he had lost 30 lbs. My brother is really book smart and scored REALLY high on the tests. The recruited mentioned SF and my brother started to envision himself becoming one of the characters on his X-Box game. Plus, the recruited did his job well. All the bells and whistles were thrown at my extremely immature brother. He signed on for the maximum with a 35K sign on bonus. So without any warning or consultation, my brother anounced to our family that he had enlisted and was leaving a few days later.

My brother was only into 5 weeks of basic when they were sent home for the Christmas Exodus. It was the worse thing they could have done in my brothers situation. It just made him more homesick.

When I picked him up from the airport, my brother looked terrible. I think he lost another 30 lbs and had been very sick for about 3 weeks. He never complained during the break. He just kept saying it was harder than he thought and everyone calls him PFC "Santa Claus" because of his weight.

I don't think anyone assaulted him. But it was clear, in a unit training for SF, he was the heaviest and slowest. About two-weeks after getting back from the Exodus, my mom started getting calls everyday. He was depressed and wanted to come home. Then, about 3 weeks ago, he failed basic training. I guess he wasn't able to complete the sit-up portion. All his friends moved on to Jump or AIT, not sure what the next phase was??

My brother told us he tried quitting, but they wouldn't accept his paperwork.

They told him they were sending him back to day one of basic. I didn't hear from him again until two weeks ago. He told my mom he quit and was waiting to get sent home. It was a lie of course. He tried quitting twice, but they wouldn't accept his resignation. So he just left.

I am trying desperatley to get him to surrender. He is still young and I know he just was in shock. He is a pretty lazy person. I don't think he understands how temporary BT is. Anyhow, I don't know what to tell him about his circumstances. He doesn't want to go back - EVER!!! He thinks if he just waits the 30 days he can skate... I know he is VERY wrong.

Any advice? He is in a unique situation. Technically, he was waiting re-assignment to a new unit to start Basic Training over. What are his options, if he goes back?

Thanks for your time and consideration,

Loving sister.

[Habeed]

Generally, he is right. If he waits 30 days, or even without that, he can skate. The policy is that soldiers who try to leave in various ways without committing a crime in doing so (going AWOL isn't a crime by civilian law) are given an honorable or uncharacterized discharge, if it is within the first 6 months after they started training.

As for whether he should stay or not : he should be aware that BT is NOT temporary. A deployment to fight in Iraq or Afganistan, which is his eventually fate if he stays in, is far, far, worse than training ever can be. If he hates it now, he should know that this is only the easy part.

I would tell him that :
1. He'll never be like those characters in the video games. Partly because the military command structure does not allow for individual soldiers to 'go rambo' and achieve anything like you see in the games. The second reason is that there are a thousand ways he could be harmed and permanently put out of action on the battlefield that would be completely unavoidable. That is, no matter how much he trains, it takes just one insurgent with a hidden IED to cripple your brother for life.
2. If he wants a career and to make money, tell him to go to college and use those brains for something useful.

[ERAUPIKE]

Originally Posted by Habeed

Generally, he is right. If he waits 30 days, or even without that, he can skate. The policy is that soldiers who try to leave in various ways without committing a crime in doing so (going AWOL isn't a crime by civilian law) are given an honorable or uncharacterized discharge, if it is within the first 6 months after they started training.

As for whether he should stay or not : he should be aware that BT is NOT temporary. A deployment to fight in Iraq or Afganistan, which is his eventually fate if he stays in, is far, far, worse than training ever can be. If he hates it now, he should know that this is only the easy part.

I would tell him that :
1. He'll never be like those characters in the video games. Partly because the military command structure does not allow for individual soldiers to 'go rambo' and achieve anything like you see in the games. The second reason is that there are a thousand ways he could be harmed and permanently put out of action on the battlefield that would be completely unavoidable. That is, no matter how much he trains, it takes just one insurgent with a hidden IED to cripple your brother for life.
2. If he wants a career and to make money, tell him to go to college and use those brains for something useful.

This is irresponsible and inaccurate advice. If your brother can't make it through basic training, then he will not make it anywhere else. He is not in a SF unit yet. There is no specialized SF basic training. He is failing and quitting the same program that every other individual in the army has endured. He would not get accepted for a SF spot being overweight or unable to pass any of the basic physical fitness requirements. Sending him back to become a man and gain some real character would result in a lifetime of rewards. Habeed is a quitter too. He is looking to just stop showing up for his voluntary obligation as well. The good news is that your brother upon his return will be more then likely discharged no matter how long he stays gone. The discharge is more than likely going to categorized as an ELS and he will be able to continue being a worthless immature unproductive member of society.

[girightslawyer]

Your brother is likely eligible to go through the PCF process at either Ft. Sill or Ft. Knox.



Good luck to your brother!

[girightslawyer]

I will add he is likely eligible for PCF because he did not graduate from AIT. If you are in the Army and you graduate from AIT, you are permanent party. At this point, you are only eligible for PCF IF you are OCONUS (stationed outside the continental US) and do not have orders to go to Iraq or Afghanistan.

In other words, once you graduate from AIT, if you are stationed in the US, you cannot get out at PCF. You will instead have to deal with your old unit if you go AWOL (and would be advised to get legal counsel).

[cyberspook]

Originally Posted by puzzledsister

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

I just found out that my brother is home from the Army today. Unfortunately, he left with out authorization (AWOL).

My brother was doing basic training for SF at Ft. Benning and knew from the get go..he couldn't hang. Prior to enlisting, my brother was about 70 lbs over-weight. He is 23 yrs old and basically ate and played X-Box all day.

A few months ago he decided to start running and dropping weight. In the two months before visiting the recruiter, he had lost 30 lbs. My brother is really book smart and scored REALLY high on the tests. The recruited mentioned SF and my brother started to envision himself becoming one of the characters on his X-Box game. Plus, the recruited did his job well. All the bells and whistles were thrown at my extremely immature brother. He signed on for the maximum with a 35K sign on bonus. So without any warning or consultation, my brother anounced to our family that he had enlisted and was leaving a few days later.

My brother was only into 5 weeks of basic when they were sent home for the Christmas Exodus. It was the worse thing they could have done in my brothers situation. It just made him more homesick.

When I picked him up from the airport, my brother looked terrible. I think he lost another 30 lbs and had been very sick for about 3 weeks. He never complained during the break. He just kept saying it was harder than he thought and everyone calls him PFC "Santa Claus" because of his weight.

I don't think anyone assaulted him. But it was clear, in a unit training for SF, he was the heaviest and slowest. About two-weeks after getting back from the Exodus, my mom started getting calls everyday. He was depressed and wanted to come home. Then, about 3 weeks ago, he failed basic training. I guess he wasn't able to complete the sit-up portion. All his friends moved on to Jump or AIT, not sure what the next phase was??

My brother told us he tried quitting, but they wouldn't accept his paperwork.

They told him they were sending him back to day one of basic. I didn't hear from him again until two weeks ago. He told my mom he quit and was waiting to get sent home. It was a lie of course. He tried quitting twice, but they wouldn't accept his resignation. So he just left.

I am trying desperatley to get him to surrender. He is still young and I know he just was in shock. He is a pretty lazy person. I don't think he understands how temporary BT is. Anyhow, I don't know what to tell him about his circumstances. He doesn't want to go back - EVER!!! He thinks if he just waits the 30 days he can skate... I know he is VERY wrong.

Any advice? He is in a unique situation. Technically, he was waiting re-assignment to a new unit to start Basic Training over. What are his options, if he goes back?

Thanks for your time and consideration,

Loving sister.

There is only one good piece of advice in this situation:

Get him to turn himself in.

End of story.

Good luck...

[girightslawyer]

Originally Posted by cyberspook

There is only one good piece of advice in this situation:

Get him to turn himself in.

End of story.

Good luck...

No. That is not the end of the story.

He likely is PCF eligible, meaning if he goes to a PCF to turn himself in after getting DFR'd, he can get out of the Army.

He also could go back to his unit, but first get letters from civilian doctors and/or mental health professionals, documenting the fact that he is not going to succeed in the Army due to his physical and/or mental health issues. And then be ready to fight like hell to get out. He can get help from congressional offices, the GI Rights hotline, a lawyer, etc. And if he is mistreated because he seeks help, then he can file an article 138 against his commander and he can contact IG, or even contact the press.

All of these options if he wants out bad enough. The key is to FIGHT! You can't just sit back and accept a crappy situation. Sure he needs to follow the law (and will likely have to go back to the Army in some way ASAP), but he needs to do it smart.

Also, the original poster said, "he doesn't realize how temporary BT is"

The truth is it often gets worse, depending on his MOS. AIT for some MOS's is way worse than Basic, and then deployments suck even more. The best thing you can do as a sister is to help him get out.

[ERAUPIKE]

Originally Posted by girightslawyer

No. That is not the end of the story.

He likely is PCF eligible, meaning if he goes to a PCF to turn himself in after getting DFR'd, he can get out of the Army.

He also could go back to his unit, but first get letters from civilian doctors and/or mental health professionals, documenting the fact that he is not going to succeed in the Army due to his physical and/or mental health issues. And then be ready to fight like hell to get out. He can get help from congressional offices, the GI Rights hotline, a lawyer, etc. And if he is mistreated because he seeks help, then he can file an article 138 against his commander and he can contact IG, or even contact the press.

All of these options if he wants out bad enough. The key is to FIGHT! You can't just sit back and accept a crappy situation. Sure he needs to follow the law (and will likely have to go back to the Army in some way ASAP), but he needs to do it smart.

Also, the original poster said, "he doesn't realize how temporary BT is"

The truth is it often gets worse, depending on his MOS. AIT for some MOS's is way worse than Basic, and then deployments suck even more. The best thing you can do as a sister is to help him get out.

And if you follow this advice be prepared to watch him fail at every turn. Carefully examine the language used by this individual claiming to be a lawyer of some sort. He is not any type of qualified legal representative and should be ignored at all costs.

Again girights, I implore you to stop representing yourself as qualified legal counsel and please find a new hobby.